Canine Affinity
by Tomo Potter
Summary: He had always loved being on Sirius' bed, perhaps it was the fact that they were both the only canine members of their pack, and so shared a special sort of affinity that neither of them had managed to dredge up for the others. SLASH, RLSB, MWPP Era.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know, I know, I should be writing Chaos Theory now. But I'm not. Because I don't FEEL like it, and I can't stand the latest chapter. Siriusly, it's terrible.

Okay, so this is a SLASH fic. YAY. Slash is my drug. :3

**Canine Affinity**

16 year old Remus Lupin rolled over in his bed. There were lots of confusing thoughts whirling in his head, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But he couldn't. Not while the other man was sleeping in the bed next to him. Remus had his curtains wide open, staring across to the bed beside his, half-hoping that the laughing face of Sirius Black would emerge, half thanking the gods that it hadn't. His mind was stuck on a continual replay of the events that had happened between them that evening.

_000Flashback000_

_Remus had been sitting on Sirius' bed, doing his homework as usual. He had always loved being on Sirius' bed, perhaps it was the fact that they were both the only canine members of their pack, and so shared a special sort of affinity that neither of them had been able to dredge up for the other two. The closest either of them came was James' friendship with Sirius. Those two were two of a kind in every way, but at the end of the day, Sirius and Remus could both find consolation in that they weren't the only canine around. Also, there was the canine smell, the simple way it was nicer than that of a human, a rat, a cat, or even a stag. And they could both joke about the unmistakable urges to chase Professor McGonagall whenever she came too close._

_Tonight, when Sirius came in, he sat down on his bed as usual, and Remus put away his homework, as usual, for their late night canine conversation. Sirius flopped down, resting his head on Remus' lap like he always did when he had had a bad day, and Remus began to fiddle with strands of his soft hair. There was nothing sexual in this, although it had been uncomfortable at first, Sirius and Remus had long since figured out that all their physical contact (and they needed twice as much as other people) was just platonic, and a side affect of being partly canine. The awkwardness had vanished, and they were as close as siblings who got along really, really well. _

_"I had an awful day, Remus." Sirius sighed, shifting heavily to rub his eyes. "And McGonagall seems to be testing me... she's always hanging around me, asking if anything's wrong. I wonder if she suspects us..."_

_"Probably not, Dumbledore's most likely just got teachers tailing you and James, and you were unlucky enough to be landed with her."_

_"Maybe, but I still think it's suspicious. I mean, she's practically brushing up against me every five minutes. Nightmare. Especially with Colleen and all."_

_Colleen was a girl Sirius was trying to break up with, although he was finding it difficult. Remus found it odd that he was trying to dump her, his only girlfriend of the moment. Maybe he had finally learned his lesson about treating women as objects, and was looking for true love, like James. Maybe he was just bored with everyone at Hogwarts already. "Have you broken up with the poor girl yet?" Remus asked, shaking himself from his thoughts._

_Sirius nodded. "Managed to by pretending to McGonagall that I needed to go study with her."_

_"You know James will hate you for this." Remus said sternly._

_"Why?" Sirius blinked, oblivious to Remus' exasperation._

_"Don't you remember why you even got together with her? Colleen is Lily's best friend, and James got you a double date."_

_"Oh yeah." Sirius ran his hand through his hair, not caring that his hand wound up somewhere in the region of Remus' crotch. The werewolf didn't pay too much attention, though in retrospect, this was probably an important detail. "I've just been kinda out of it lately." Sirius sighed. "Trying to cut down the amount of things I have to worry about, y'know?"_

_Ah, so that was Sirius' mysterious reason for now being single. Remus had nodded slightly, smiling to himself. "I understand about not wanting so much stress, but it's alright to keep _one_ girlfriend, most people manage that. God knows, without that harem of yours, your grades might actually improve!"_

_Sirius laughed. "Not bloody likely. I just need more pranking time, that's all. And I've been neglecting my friends lately too, you guys haven't seen nearly enough of me. Especially James, what with his hands full wooing Lily. Speaking of which, why don't you ever go out with girls, Remus? It's even more fun than you would think!"_

_Remus sighed. "You know why I can't, Sirius. If I let someone too close, they're bound to find out about me. And once they do, word will spread. You know the saying, telephone, telegraph..."_

_"Tell a girl." Sirius had concluded. "I know. But it wouldn't hurt to let one person into your life."_

_"I have. Three people, the three best friends in the world. That's more than enough, and I'm quite happy with you guys. I, unlike you, do not have a limitless libido." Remus smiled amusedly down at his canine companion, gently braiding and unbraiding the fine strands of thick hair. _

_"Yeah, but you don't even have magazines, Remus. I checked. How can someone have no libido at all?"_

_"Maybe I'm just not ready to let someone be that close to me yet. But the question is, are you ever going to actually get close to one of your girlfriends, or are you just going to use them like the condoms I know you keep under your pillow."_

_"I don't know." Sirius said, brushing aside the condom comment. "But I definitely want to give it a go."_

_"My my, Sirius Black, Stud of Gryffindor actually wants to give a serious relationship a go. Has the world come to an end?" Remus teased, letting go of Sirius' hair for the inevitable scuffle that would follow his statement. And follow it did, Sirius tackling Remus and them fighting playfully for several minutes. Only when they had called a truce and were lying, sweaty and panting, side by side on Sirius' bed did it occur to Remus that this was incredibly uncharacteristic. Had Sirius actually fallen in love with someone? Was it even worth their while to trust him? And who was it?_

_"So just who is she?" Remus panted, rolling onto his side to face Sirius._

_"Well..." The animagus said cryptically. "A name beginning with RL... Beautiful blonde hair, and the most gorgeous eyes known to humanity." It looked like Sirius was leaning in, though Remus had been deep in thought at the time._

_"Not Rebecca Lockheart?" He cried, when Sirius was mere inches away. "She's a bimbo, even dumber than her brother. And he's as dumb as they get."_

_"Ew!" Sirius yelped, jumping back. "No! She uses engorgio on her breasts every morning."_

_"Really? That must be why they're so disgustingly huge..." Remus laughed, then returned to the task at hand. "But she's the only girl in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff who fits that description... You're not after a Slytherin are you?"_

_"No!" Sirius sounded genuinely disgusted, and that threw Remus off. He had assumed that it was a girl from school, but now, the possibilities were almost endless._

_"What school does she go to then?"_

_"This school. This house. This year. See what I'm getting at?" _

_"No..."_

_Sirius sighed. "For someone who is supposedly so smart Remus, you sure are stupid." Sirius smiled affectionately, leaning in to gently kiss Remus on the lips. _

_000End Flashback000_

After that, Remus had stumbled back to his own bed and collapsed in it, his entire body completely numbed at the thought that Sirius liked him. It was so uncomprehensible a thought, that someone could actually love Remus, that he had never even put any thought into it before. And now here he was, faced with something he had never had the faintest brush of experience with, and it was sleeping a few feet away. A part of him wanted to go and curl back up into Sirius' familiar bed, surrounded by the comforting scents, and just fall asleep, but the other half wanted to wait and see what Sirius did.

That half didn't have to wait long. Before ten minutes had passed, A black dog leaped through the scarlet curtains of it's bed, and sprang nimbly onto the opened four-poster of Remus Lupin. He looked at Remus hesitantly, then licked his hand. Usually, Sirius was ten times as affectionate and bouncy as a dog as he was as a human, and that simple, timid lick said more than Sirius had ever intended it to. Unable to help himself, Remus gathered the dog up in a tight hug, squeezing his best friend until he transformed back into a man.

"Remus...choking..." Sirius pointed out, and Remus blushed slightly, releasing him.

"Sorry." He smiled slightly.

"No problem. Just don't kill me. I really wouldn't appreciate it. Especially since I just told you how I... how I feel." He blushed, staring at his bare feet and the cuffs of his pawprint-dotted pyjama bottoms as though expecting to be reprimanded for his actions. Instead, Remus grabbed his chin, and dragged it up to face him.

"Look at me Sirius, you did nothing at all wrong. It'll just take me some time to get used to all of this, since I'm not sure how I feel about you yet. All I know is that I feel closer to you than I ever felt to anyone in my entire life, and I think I always will."

Sirius smiled, and embraced the smaller man. "That's all I ask." Smiling shyly, Remus returned the hug.

They just held each other for awhile, breathing in the scent, getting used to the feel of each other. But, of course, the famous libido of Sirius Black wouldn't be satisfied with that for long, and soon, he was gently trailing kisses along the side of Remus' neck. Remus tensed up, totally unused to this sort of feeling, but not exactly hating it. Slowly, awkwardly, he began caressing Sirius' bare chest. (The man preferred to sleep without a shirt on; he claimed that it made him feel free.) Sirius apparently liked that, because his kisses became more frequent, and Remus couldn't help a soft little moan escaping. Once it did though, he was mortified, and clamped up entirely, terrified that he had done the wrong thing. Sirius didn't seem to mind, though, and continued kissing, Remus gently relaxing with every brush of the lips. Before long he was returning the kisses and caresses, and didn't even notice anymore the at first awkward hand that had crept up his pyjama top. Sirius was lying atop Remus, though not so much as to crush him or make him feel that he couldn't get away. It was comfortable, and before long, absolutely every touch, every kiss, felt absolutely right, just like their absent little touches when hanging out on Sirius' bed. Remus didn't even notice when Sirius began removing his shirt, until it was off and he was getting cold, both of them being above the blankets.

"Now I see why you like this so much." Remus smiled between kisses.

"It's a million times better with you." Sirius replied softly, whispering gently in Remus' ear, tickling him and making the young werewolf giggle.

What neither of them saw were the shocked faces of their two best friends standing in the doorway.

A/N: I may continue this, I may not, but my author's muse says "WHY THE FUCK HAVE YOU STOPPED!" I was just PMSy and out of chocolate, and needed to be cheered up with some good Sirius-Remus lovin'. LEAVE ME CHOCOLATE AND REVIEWS, OR I'LL BITCHSLAP YOU AND CRY!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, I'm still PMSy and bitchy as hell (mum practically had to yell at me today because I wasn't paying attention to my stupid brother's stupid videogame. And my leg totally hurts and my oviaries are in pain and I still have no real chocolate and I ate all my christmas candy and my brother keeps bugging me and I HATE EVERYTHING! AAAAAAAAAARGH!

But now I have a whole heap of virtual chocolate. WHEEEE! I don't hate that. Nope, that's quite nice.

Jente Bidernais: Ah don't worry, I love long reviews. The longer the better. And about no chocolate... yikes! My mum's fiancee is a complete chocoholic - a conisseur of chocolate if you will, and then he found out he's lactose intolerant -and- slightly diabetic. (not quite sure about the last one...) He practically had a heart attack! Now he wants to open up a healthy dessert bar with sugar+lactose free options.

Moody Lighting: Oooh, I hadn't heard of that... must try it.

And thanks for reviewing to Elemental-ANimal, Queen Caira, Beth5572, dracolover18, Dizi 85, and Gummi Bear for reviewing!

**Canine Affinity**

James Potter and Peter Pettigrew had just been innocently plotting a new bunch of pranks and come back to their dorm to find this... whatever it was going on. Peter turned beet red, and scampered away before Sirius and Remus had even noticed his presence, while James stared on in awe. Sirius had been talking about getting serious with someone in their year, but he had simply assumed that it was Colleen McKinley, and that they would all be able to go out as a group. And now this.

Finally, Remus appeared to spot him, and shoved Sirius off. "James!" He cried, flushed and embarrassed, his neck already showing evidence of Sirius' ministrations. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." James said, and managed to keep the shock out of his voice, replacing it with coldness. "I think the question being asked should be what are you two _doing_. Here."

Remus didn't fail to notice the amount of stress on doing. "We were... um..." Remus seemed genuinely confused, something that almost never happened to James' intelligent friend. It made it all that much harder to act cold and uncaring. "We were... We..." Remus petered off. Sirius seemed permanantly stunned, leaving Remus to do all the explaining. "I don't even know!" Remus broke down, suddenly so afraid of what was happening. He wasn't even sure he liked Sirius that way, and word was already, it seemed, getting out. Remus crying seemed to snap Sirius back to reality, and he put a protective arm around Remus, holding him.

"We were kissing. If you have a problem with that, then butt out." He retorted angrily, matching the ice in James' voice.

"I didn't mean it like that..." James said apologetically, daring to approach them. "It was just a shock, I guess."

Remus looked up from where he had been huddled into Sirius. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

Sirius seemed genuinely surprised. "What the hell should you be sorry for?"

"I forgot to close the curtains. I was hoping for you to come over and talk to me, and then forgot to close them when you did." Remus sniffed, scrubbing his eyes in a desperate attempt to regain order in a world that appeared to have been turned upside down and shaken by the ankles.

"That's just ridiculous." Sirius declared, James nodding helpfully. "We were far too busy for you to remember. And I kind of threw this at you, I should have thought it would be a bit confusing."

"So how long has this been going on?" James asked, sitting on Sirius' bed, almost ripping the still closed drapes by sitting on them too.

"A few minutes? Maybe half an hour?" Remus smiled. The simple act of answering a question lit his whole slightly tearstained face up, returning some of the life they had all grown to expect from their lycanthropic friend.

"Well, I've liked Remus for about... a month? Or realised that I liked him, anyway. I probably liked him before that, only didn't realise. Or didn't have the courage to realise." Sirius smiled, running a hand effortlessly through Remus' neatly combed hair. "What about you, Remus?"

"I don't know." he deflated, the life going. "I still don't know how I feel. Or if I feel."

"Well you sure as hell looked like you were enjoying yourself back there." James said, it coming out somewhat more awkwardly than intended.

Sirius nodded, but Remus just shrugged. "But I really need to be sure I'm ready to commit. Wolves mate for life, and it's the same with werewolves, for the most part. I can't just go out with anyone I feel like, I have to be really sure. That's why I don't date, Sirius, since you were wondering. That and I'm a naturally reserved person. Even... kissing" Remus blushed at the word "someone has lifelong ramifications I'm not really sure of." He sighed. "I really don't know what's going to happen now, but I do know we have to go slow."

"Right." Sirius smiled. "Slow it is." He kissed Remus on the cheek, which turned scarlet.

"Sirius! Not in front of James." He half pushed, half punched Sirius in the chest. James, meanwhile, had turned bright red, and was politely loking the other way. Suddenly he realised something.

"Peter!" James cried. "Where's Peter? He was with me... He must have run off."

"Oh no..." Remus curled up, hugging his legs. "You know how he is with gossip."

Sirius didn't say anything. Just leaped off the bed and ran to the only place they knew they would find their rodent friend. In the secret Maurauder room, curled up on his bean bag. Any display of intimacy seemed to terrify him, and he would always go here when Sirius was talking about his girlfriends, or James started prattling on and on about Lily. Although, the moment Peter got over it, the word would be all over Gryffindor tower and, before long, the entire school. James, seemingly realising the urgency, followed Sirius at top speed, Remus not exactly running after him, Remus almost never ran unless there was chocolate involved, but he was certainly hurrying quickly.

Sirius burst into the Marauder room, barely remembering to mutter the password ("Slytherin Snapey Sucks") before crashing through the secret entrance. Peter was there, of course, curled up on his beanbag as expected. Sirius breathed a sigh of releif, and walked over to him.

"Are you okay Peter?"

Peter shrugged. "You're gay." He said this in the exact same matter-of-fact tone Remus used when helping the rest of them with their homework.

Sirius shrugged. "It would seem so."

"You like Remus."

"Yep."

"Why?"

Sirius was somewhat taken aback by this question. "Why do I like him?" Peter nodded. "Well... he's funny and smart and bloody gorgeous... like the perfect woman only male." Sirius smiled. "Only don't tell him I said he was like a woman or he'll hit me." Sirius smirked, then yelped as he received a smack upside the head.

"Don't call someone a woman when they're right behind you." Remus smirked evilly, sitting next to Sirius. "Hi Peter. Sorry about what you had to see before... I kinda forgot to close the curtains."

"It's okay, I just didn't know."

"Believe me, I didn't know either." Remus smiled. "Peter, can we trust you not to tell anyone? We'll tell when we're ready, if we ever are. For now I'd rather it was just us that knew."

Peter nodded, and everyone was satisfied. If there was one thing that you could say about they 16 year old Peter Pettigrew, it was that he was loyal to his friends, and wouldn't tell anything he had been told to keep secret.

"Okay, that's over and done with. Shall we Remus? I believe we need to go talk about things." Sirius smiled, offering Remus his arm. The werewolf took it, and they left together, Remus calling out behind him. "I'll remember to close the curtains this time!"

A/N: Well, it's Friday now. I'm still pissed off, because I've had PMS for about a month now, but at least I have chocolate biscuts now, and a store with tons more chocolate just down the road. Aaaah, bliss. And now, I crave blue sherbert. BLAST! Leave me blue sherbert, and chocolate, and I think Remus would like some too.

Remus:sniff: I haven't had _any_ chocolate all story!

Tomo: I feel your pain.

Next time: Remus and Sirius talk about stuff, and Snape finds out.

(Yes, I am just writing whatever pointless drivel pops into my head. I have no plot as of yet. MWAHAHA.)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I finish one chapter, and immediatley start another. How pathetically awesome am I? Still want chocolate. Hungry. Sore. But I just won at solitaire! For the first time in my life! Wooo00000!

Reviews ROCK. Rock my JOCKS.

Gummi Bear: You gave me candy. I love you.

And thankillies to Dizi85, Jente Bidernais, Beth5572, Queen Caira, xSoThisIsLOVEx, and dracolover18

**Canine Affinity**

This time, Remus draged Sirius to his own bed, leaving Remus' alone and bare, the blankets slightly mussed from their earlier activities. They slipped through the curtains, and Sirius cast muffliatio, so that James and Peter wouldn't be... disturbed.

"Why did you bring us here?" Sirius asked Remus, sitting crosslegged on his pillow, that adorable puppydog face automatically affixing itself to his features.

Remus shrugged. "I like your bed." He said simply. "It smells like you."

"Oh what?" Sirius grinned. "Do I smell?"

"Only to me. Don't worry." Remus smiled back, and had to resist the urge to snog Sirius right then and there. "It's a nice smell."

"So what did you want to talk about?"

Remus shrugged. "About this. What're we going to do? Do we go public? Do we even become a couple?" Remus looked slightly anxious again, which Sirius found adorable.

"Well I thought I had made it clear that I want to be a couple. As for going public, that's up to you." Sirius smiled dopily.

"I don't know... We shouldn't make it obvious, no cuddling in the common room, but I suppose holding hands and stuff is fine. A little." Remus added as Sirius looked eagar.

"So you want to be a couple?"

Remus sighed, running a hand though his hair. "We'll see how it goes. But I'm still not sure I'm totally ready."

"We can go as slow as you want, love." Sirius smiled, hugging Remus gently. And of course, Sirius could never be happy with a hug for long...

000

The following morning, Remus didn't know where he was. It was a bed, similar to his own, but just different enough to be confusing. And the smell... he sniffed at it. Ah, that was it. He was in Sirius' bed.

Sirius! Remus sat up, wide awake now, to see Sirius curled up contentedly at the end of the bed, like a dog. Remus smiled at the adorable sight of his best friend _'Boyfriend?' _Remus thought worriedly. _'Nah, better stick with best friend.' _snuffling and twitching his hands and feet like a dog dreaming of chasing a rabbit. Remus shook him gently, and Sirius woke up, blinking and staring sleepily at Remus.

"'Allo, love." _'Well, at least he has no problem remembering last night...'_ Remus thought. "What time is it?"

Remus peeked out of the curtains to check Sirius' alarm clock, then shoved his head back in. "About seven. Come on, it's Saturday, we have all day to ourselves. Let's go eat."

"No. Sleep." Sirius curled back up, lying on Remus' legs so that the werewolf had to shove him off.

"Stop being stupid, Sirius. I know you hate mornings, but if we're gonna do this thing, you have to start putting up with my morning enthusiasm, instead of just shovng me off and going back to sleep." And Remus pushed Sirius again, so he fell off the bed with a yelp. This, of course, awoke James and Peter, who peeked out of their own beds to see what all the fuss was.

James grumbled. He appeared to have already adjusted to the idea of Sirius and Remus together. "Will you two please be quiet. Remus, you have to appreciate that normal people hate mornings."

Remus grinned sheepishly out of the curtains. "Sorry."

Peter, on the other hand, just squealed, and hid back in bed.

Sirius sighed. "Peter, it's alright. We're wearing pants."

"Implying that you weren't earlier?" James waggled his eyebrows.

"Ew!" Remus blushed. "No!"

Sirius clambered back to his feet, and tackled Remus playfully, pulling him out of bed too. "Come on, since I'm up, you have to be too."

Remus shrieked, but allowed Sirius to lift him up easily, and dump him on the floor beside his own bed. James just sighed, and tried to go back to bed. Remus got up and pulled some clean robes out of his trunk, slipping them on over his pyjama pants, then searching for proper pants, and a shirt. Sirius just grabbed some clothes and threw them on, then started bouncing impatiently, waiting for Remus so they could go to breakfast together as their first official 'date'. Remus, however, was determined to keep to his morning routine, hopping onto his bed and drawing the curtains to get dressed. Just like he usually did - Remus had always been a very private person, and liked order and routine in his mornings. Finally he slipped out of bed, dressed perfectly as always, with his hair mysteriously brushed and tidied, and his teeth smelling brushed. More than once, James and Sirius had wondered how he did it.

"Okay, come on." Remus sighed, heading towards the common room. "Let's get this thing over with."

000

As Remus knew, and had planned, the school was always virtually empty this early in the morning, and Remus and Sirius had no problem walking to breakfast, hand in hand. (At Sirius' request.) They even managed to eat most of their breakfast before noticing that someone was staring at them across the hall.

"What're you looking at, Snivellus?" Sirius sneereed, glaring at his nemisis across the hall.

Snape glared right on back. "Why are you holding hands with Lupin?"

Sirius blinked, quickly dropping Remus' hand under the table. "We weren't."

Snape snorted. "Right. Did you two finally have slimy, gryffindor sex?"

"What?" Remus blushed hotly. "No!

"Oh Lupin! Lupin! Slay my dragon! Oh yes! Yes!" Snape mimed, sneering at the two across the entire hall. Sirius got up, and actually looked prepared to run across the tables and throttle him, but Remus yanked at his robes, pulling Sirius back down. This was most definitley a battle to be won with wits, not violence.

"How do we know you're not just jealous?" Remus replied, quirking an eyebrow. "Maybe you fancy some slimy, gryffindor sex?" He smirked, enjoying the shocked look on Snape's face. Remus decided to add sarcastically; "Stir that potion! Yeah, baby!"

Snape didn't say anything audible, grumbling about stupid Gryffindors. Sirius seemed satisfied, and patted Remus on the back. In a manly way. "Nice one!"

Remus sighed. "Look, Snape. If you tell anyone about this..."

"So you are going out?" And Snape seemed interested again, looking at them sincerely.

Remus sighed. "I will neither confirm not deny anything more than a platonic relationship between myself and Mr. Black."

"That means yes."

Remus shrugged. "But now I didn't tell you about it, you guessed, and therefore, we may just be screwing with your mind."

"Damn..." Snape sighed. "You really are tricky." Something resembling a smile appeared on his face. Surprisingly, after six years of "rivalry", this was the first time Snape and Remus had ever really matched wits.

"But seriously... stop it, Sirius." Remus shouldered Sirius after an outburst of sniggers from the man. "You can't tell anyone about this. We'll tell people when we're ready."

"Don't worry, I don't stoop to slandering people through gossip."

"Thank you." Remus smiled, and continued eating. Sirius just stared at him, speechless.

"How could you have something so close to a civil conversation with that git?" He exclaimed, finding his voice.

"Sirius." Remus sighed. "First of all; I respect him, and treat him with respect. Second of all, I understand him, in a way."

"Understand _Snape_? The man's unfathomable! How could you understand him?"

"Easy." Remus smiled benignly. "We're both intellectuals, severely bullied for being who we are. Or I would be, in any case, had I not been lucky enough to have you guys. Under his circumstances, it's easy to build up a defensive and/or sarcastic shell to protect yourself."

Sirius shook his head. "Whatever. I still say he's a git."

Remus sighed. Snape just tried to pretend he wasn't there, embarassed that Lupin had managed to describe him perfectly after one conversation.

Luckily for Snape, the Great Hall began to fill up with sleepy-eyed students, and Remus and Sirius went back to holding hands sneakily under the table.

A/N: Grarl... I had cramps, but thought I was hungry and now I'm sick and argh and I still have no chocolate and not enough money to buy it with and my pyjama pants are falling down and my stupid brother thinks I'm funny and I ate all the biscuts and now I'm going to write the next chapter straight away and I finally know what I'm going to do with the plot and it'll be an absolute max of 10 chapters long and the only songs coming on my iPod are crappy and I HATE EVERYTHING!

Remus: Uh oh! O.O Better review her... She's got the axe:runs away:

Tomo:froths at mouth: TOMO WANT REVIEW!

Next time: Remus starts making a new friend, and Sirius is too protective.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:wipes froth from mouth: It's a whole two seconds since I finished the last chapter! Wow! Holy crap I'm churning this story out! And the sores on my fingertips are opening up again... freakin' great. Should never type for more than four hours solid ever again. Ah well, moving on. My dad can just deal with having blood and icky crap on his keyboard.

(And no, the sores didn't actually -come- from typing, they came from me trying to pick out a bajillion splinters with my nails and failing.)

Reviews!

Elemental-ANimal: SCHOCOLATE! I FEED IT TO MY AXE, MISTER AXEY.

Dizi 85: MNMS! I LOVE YOU! MNMS MNMS MNS MNMSMNMSSMNSMSWMSNnsmNSMnsmSMNSmsnSnSmsnsmnbfnmghkigfwhvhekykyvwerfkuyfv...

Gummi bear: Woooo! Chocolate! Thank you! And haha, I could just picture it too, it made me crack up... wheee

And thanks to Goagirl Jareth Stardust, Beth5572, Jente Bidernas, and Because I Need More Space.

Oh, and sorry for having to reupload it, I had forgotten the review responses, which I consider absolutely vital to being a good author. Feedback is everything.

**Canine Affinity**

Over the next few weeks, Sirius became more confident in Snape's trustworthiness. Remus had never had a doubt, but Sirius had been more than sceptical. Now, however, he was beginning to relax, and even openly show affection for Remus, be it more hugs in public, or holding hands casually on the way to class, so that they "didn't get lost". James and Peter gradually got used to the idea of them as a couple, and Remus began spending _slightly _less time in the library. Remus was always worried when they both walked into class with hickeys on their necks, but in Sirius it was ignored, and people started speculating about who Remus was finally going out with. So far, most of the money was on either Colleen McKinley or Lily Evans, although James hadn't stopped hanging around him, putting the popular opinion more firmly on Colleen.

Remus and Snape also seemed to be running into each other more than usual, in the library and classes and stuff, although Remus himself had no idea why this was happening, the simple truth was that Snape wanted to talk to Remus. Most people, however, thought that Remus had done something horrible to Snape, and Snape was quietly seeking revenge.

One day, when Remus was in the library, Snape picked up the courage to go and sit with him. Remus blinked, not having noticed him until then.

"Hi." Remus said questioningly. "What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you." Snape said quietly, looking around.

"Oh... um... what about?"

Snape shrugged. "Did you mean what you said about understanding me?" He seemed oddly awkward to Remus, which puzzled him. Maybe he just wasn't used to talking without being sarcastic.

"Sure. I used to be just like you at my old school." Remus smiled.

Snape blinked. Surely sweet, kind, never-hurt-a-fly Remus Lupin had never been like him. "Really?"

"Yep, sarcasm and everything. It's something I think you have to do to defend yourself. Otherwise it all just gets too much. I'm lucky I have James and Sirius to protect me this time, otherwise I'd probably still be just like that."

"Yeah, you're lucky to have great friends like that."

"They'd probably be your friends too if they weren't so convinced you're bad just because you're a Slytherin, and have the sarcastic thing going on." Remus smiled.

Snape laughed bitterly. "If only. I begged the hat not to put me in Slytherin, but it said that I was showing too many Slytherin qualities to ignore."

"That's awful! I was very nearly a Ravenclaw, but I made the hat put me in Gryffindor with Sirius."

"What'd you do, offer it candy?"

"Actually I threatened to tear it to shreds. But that might have worked too."

Snape laughed. "I should have thought of that. Sadly I didn't, and I'm stuck."

Remus shrugged. "And if I somehow managed to get you to be friends with the others, then your entire house would tear you limb from limb."

Snape winced. "No wonder I'm a Slytherin. I'm nowhere brave enough to be in Gryffindor."

"Of course you are! You have to be brave to stand up to Sirius and James." He sighed. "And I'm sad to say, I helped them with the theory and fine-tuning behind most of their plots. I'll try to get them to at least lay off a little if you want."

Snape shook his head. "It's fine. If I can put up with it for this long, I can put up with that gang of yours for a little longer." He smiled, just as the bell rang. "Great." He groaned. "I have to go to Charms."

Remus sighed. "Defense Against The Dark Arts. I'll see you in Ancient Runes though, right?"

Snape nodded. "And Arthmancy."

000

Remus continued showing up to classes with hickeys, and spending more time with Severus, and some of the more clever gossips finally hooked these things together. They were a little too late though, because the next day shocking and exciting news rippled through the whole of wizarding Britain; there was a move being made to legalise same sex marriages. (Although the Minister was strongly opposed.) The reactions were mixed, though most people were of the opinion that it was horribly disgusting; that a marriage was a sacred thing between two people of opposite genders, and should always remain so. For the first time ever, the famous Marauders kept strangely quiet about this subject, and just got on with their lives. Until, that is, the day the announcement was posted.

The minister was coming to Hogwarts to prove just how few of the country's youth would actually need such a commodity. There were five days until his confrence, and everyone was to neaten themselves up, and think of some questions to pose to the minister, although it was generally accepted that he wouldn't actually answer any of them, and instead would rant about how if such a huge magical academy could have no homosexuals, then why would the public in general need it. Everyone was abuzz about it, and most saw it as an excuse to protest some more about why abominations like that shouldn't get the same rights as everyone else.

And still, the marauders wouldn't say a word. Although now everyone was convinced that they were planning something big for the confrence, and left them alone.

000

Five days left.

000

"It's an outrage!" Remus fumed, the moment he had stepped into the secret marauder room, followed by the others. "I'm already classed as an abomination, do I really have to be two abominations in one?" He sighed, flopping down on his huge soft armchair and running his fingers through his now messy hair. (I'll leave you to guess as to why it's messy.)

"Hush love." Sirius sighed, seating himself next to Remus on the armchair. "It is an outrage, but there's not much we can do about it. Even just one couple here won't be enough."

"But it could spur more people into coming out! We can't just let them win!"

"Do you really think it's worth compromising our privacy? On a worldwide scale? Everyone is watching, Remus, to see what happens. Our parents, even! Could you stand your whole family finding out this way?"

"I could, if it was for a good cause."

"And everyone at school! Did you see all those homophobes?"

Remus rolled his eyes, fiddling with Sirius' hair. "It's still worth it."

000

Still five days...

000

Later that evening, Remus and Severus were having one of their regular library chats, and I don't think there's any doubt as to what about.

"It's an outrage!" Remus stormed. Quietly though, they were in a library.

Severus nodded. "I know if I was gay I'd want to marry someone I loved one day." At this, his eyes did an odd flick in Remus' direction, but he was too mad to care.

"And as if that's not enough, Remus says we can't stand up for ourselves, because it'd get us teased. How amusing!" He threw his hands up.

Severus chuckled. "Until everyone moved on to the next scandal. In a few weeks, maybe a month or three."

Remus nodded. "Excactly! Oh my, big whoop, whatever. But he's just too dense and obsessed with his own image to realise that one day _we_ might want to get married, and won't be able to, because he wasn't brave enough to stand up and say so."

Severus remained silent, thinking quietly while Remus ranted.

000

The same day. Again.

000

"Gosh! I swear, he must have gone completely crazy!" Sirius cried exasperately, pacing the room. James and Peter watched him quietly, waiting for the end of the rant. When it came, Peter spoke quietly. "He's right though.

Sirius flicked his eyes up to glare at him. "What did you say?"

"He's right. You might want to get married to him one day, after you've left school, but won't be able to."

Sirius had been about to retort, but then closed his mouth, trying to imagine he and Remus getting married. For some reason, he could see it exactly as it would be, in clear detail.

A/N: OOoooo! Plot! I really freakin' want to finish this story, sooooooooo badly. So you guessed it... straight after this is done, the next chapter'll be written. I'll post them every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, which is US Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. My gods, I love getting time before anyone else.

(Quick edit: I have all of this, and most of the sequel written now, as I post this. MWAHAHA)

Next time: Remus fumes some more, and Sirius has a few changes of heart.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well well, aren't I awesome! I must be like the first Remus/Sirius writer who DOESN'T have legalised gay marriages right from the word go. That does get rather irritating sometimes. Also, I must add that I was just playing solitare to get my mind off it, and started thinking the cards were gay. I really should sleep... 19 hours in three days probably isn't enough. And I just had to plug my iPod in to charge it and it doesn't work while charging here for some reason. So now I am sad. I cry. :cries:

Oh, and FF .net locked me out of the documents page, so this is late. I'll update every day this week to make up. WHOO.

REVIEWS ARE AWESOME

Dizi85:Hugs: How did you know I'm addicted to mnms? And Remus would thank you, but he's a bit busy gorging himself on chocolate, and trying to make Sirius wear the collar all the time, because it's adorable!

Gummi Bear: CANDY SHOWER! Haha and yes, I expected something like that to happen eventually, I get the names mixed up all the time. I'll fix that eventually.

Queen Caira: Hehehe... You'll see

femalemoony12: YAY brownies! Thanks for your nice reviews!

And thanks for the reviews to: Beth5572, and Elemental-ANimal.

**Canine Affinity**

000

Four days until the conference...

000

Remus had calmed down significantly now, and was lying lazily in the crook of Sirius' arm on his bed. They had had a shared free period for once, and had used it to it's full potential. Well not that full. You know what I mean.

"Have you changed your mind yet?" Remus asked sleepily.

"About what?"

"The confrence. I still want to stand up for ourselves."

"Remus, I told you. It's not going to happen."

"Fine, then I can't ever have sex with you."

"Huh... what?" Sirius blinked, jumping to his knees. Remus seemed unscathed.

"Simple. Having sex is the same kind of commitment to a werewolf as getting married is. So, unless we can get married, I won't ever sleep with you." He smiled innocently.

"Wuh... buh... Remus! That's not fair!"

"Of course it is. It's perfectly fair." Remus smiled. "I want to get married one day. You want booty. Similar commitments. So, we help each other."

"So, let me get this straight. Unless I stand up and announce that I'm gay, you'll never sleep with me."

"Right." Remus nodded.

"I hate you." Sirius glared at him evilly, and Remus knew he had won.

000

Still four days...

000

"It worked! It worked! I'm so happy!" Remus smiled, jumping up and down excitedly in the library. "He said he will!"

Severus laughed lightly. "Congratulations. I told you, men like that are easy enough to manipulate. Mention the withholding of sex in any degree, and he'll fall over himself to do anything you want."

"Thanks, Severus. I knew I could count on you."

000

Three days!

000

"Remus, why do we have to pick what to wear? We're going to stand up and say we want the right to get married, who cares what we wear?"

"I told you, we're representing the homosexual community at large. We need to look good."

"But there are three days left! Why now?"

"So that you don't accidentally wear what you're going to wear."

"Fine." Sirius sighed, grabbing a robe, a shirt, and some pants. "Done."

Remus rolled his eyes and reached into Sirius' trunk, searching until he found a clean shirt and robes, and a pair of smart black pants. "You're wearing that." He then returned to his own clothes, carefully picking his own outfit.

"Now, no touchies until the day. And no giving me hickeys either. I really don't want to have to wear a scarf."

"Fine, fine. But afterwards, can I give you hickeys and snuggle you in public and eat with you sitting on my lap?"

Remus laughed. "Fine... I suppose."

000

Still three days

000

"I hereby call this meeting of the Marauders open! Is there any business at all?" Three shaken heads. James smiled. Being a leader was fun.

"Okay, what's new on the grapevines, Peter?"

"Not much, just speculation about who's gay and who isn't. Nothing unusual."

"Anything on Snape, Sirius?"

"Nope, he's keeping quiet, being good. Almost asking us to get him."

"Good. After Remus' homework session, we can think of what to do to him. Over to you, Moony!" James surrendered the focus of the group to his lycanthropic friend. When they had been planning the Marauder meetings, each person had gotten something suited to them to talk about. James would lead the meetings and supply snacks from the kitchens, Peter would keep them up to date on the school gossip, Sirius would talk about Snape sightings, and Remus... Remus had requested that they all do homework for his section.

"Okay." Remus stood up, breathing deeply. "I invited a guest to help with the homework this time, a friend of mine."

There were general cries of outrage. "You're bringing an outsider in? Remus, this is crazy!"

"I'm pretty sure you'll all think that, especially at first, but trust me. I trust him."

There was a knock on the hidden door and Remus strode over, opening it to reveal...

Severus Snape.

000

That damn third day again...

000

"Snivellus?!" James and Sirius cried at the same time, and Peter screamed and tried to hide under his beanbag chair.

"Severus, if you don't mind." Snape said cooly, sweeping into the room with a smile from Remus. "Although Snape will suffice if you cannot dredge up anything like niceness." At this, Remus frowned, then turned to the others to explain.

"I've been spending a lot of time with Severus lately, and I realised something. I used to be just like that before I had friends. So I figure all he needs is friends. He manages to be perfectly nice when we study together."

"You _study _together?!" James cried. "Just great. One of my best friends studies with my worst enemy."

"At least he isn't your boyfriend..." Sirius retorted, earning more shocked looks from James and even Peter, who peeked out from under the bag.

"I already know." Snape drolled. "It was how Remus and I met."

"Ah yes, it was a romantic early morning..." Remus began, adding his own brand of sarcasm. "I remember the feel of the egg dribbling down my chin, and Sirius licking off every drop, and then my eyes met Severus' across the table... it was love at first sight." He fake-swooned.

"Stop that." Sirius glared at him. "I bet it was him that suggested your chastity... does he know about your furry little problem too?"

"What?" Remus looked genuinley shocked, while Severus seemed confused. "Of course not! I didn't even tell you guys that, you had to figure it out. I just said that sex means a commitment for me."

"What furry-"

"A comitment? A _commitment_? You do realise, don't you, that this will forever label us as those gay guys who wanted to get married! Even if I want to find a woman in the future, it's doubtful."

"Stop being ridiculous. At least give Severus a chance. He's willing to give you one, which is surprising, considering what you put him through!"

"I don't believe this." Sirius said sadly, and stormed out. Remus chased after him, leaving a confused Severus, a shocked James, and a terrified Peter attempting to hide unsucessfully under a beanbag.

"So... homework?" Severus attempted a smile.

A/N: OMG... about halway through this chapter I went to buy candy and GUESS WHAT THEY HAD!?!?!??!?! I spent like a dollar on fizzing whizzbees, these purple-flavoured chewy candies with sherbert inside:ultrahappiness dance: they tastes soooo good and just one made my cravings for sugar go away, to be replaced by inspiration! WOOO! And now, I'm going to write the last chapter before anything else, because it's eating away at my insides. :sucks on cola flavoured lollipop: n.n

Next Time: Sirius and Remus fight, James finds an unexpected friend, and someone else finds out...


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: A day after writing the last chaper... sooo tired. (27 hours sleep in the past 4 days... so not awesome.) But I just got back from a friend's house, and I MUST WRITE! Siriusly, I don't know why, but she's the most inspiring person I know. And she doesn't even know I write slash. (She doesn't know what slash is...) But she still inspires me.

TiredRaven: I know just what you mean... I had an awesome last week of holidays planned, but now I feel to pooey to do anything about it. :gives Severus: Yay for everyone's favourite snarky bastard!

Periwinkle4444: BLUE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! And Sirius wasn't thinking much before, but now he's not thinking at all. Sirius and smart don't go together.

Elemental-ANimal: I know! I saw them and actually started jumping up and down screaming in the middle of the shop... I get a lot of odd looks. But it was SO completely awesome. and I'm eating one right now. WHEE.

And hugsies to Gummi Bear, Jente Bidernais, and Aella-Bay!

This chapter is dedicated to Jas, for making me want to write.

**Canine Affinity**

000

Three days like woah.

000

Severus, James, and Peter had been left in an awkward silence. Nobody wanted to be the first to speak, or even move, for fear of a fight starting. And then Severus sighed, and sat down.

"Okay, so Remus says I'm supposed to help you morons study. Since he says it'll be good for me, I'm doing this. For his sake." Severus raised an eyebrow, looking clearly at James. "So, are you going to sit down and study, or just stare at me like I'm an alien?"

Slowly, James sat down, unsure if this was really happening. "Okay... I have transfiguration, charms, and potions essays."

Severus winced. "Let's do potions. I can't stand charms."

"Why not?" James blinked. "It's just waving your wand and saying a few words. No real skill to it."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Right. Just like there's no real skill to making potions, just throwing some things in a pot and hoping whatever comes out isn't poisonous."

James sighed. "Fine. Potions it is. I'll get Remus to help with charms anyway."

Severus nodded. "Okay, what do you have to write about?"

"I got the draught of the living dead." James shrugged. "Better than Sirius and Peter, they're doing a joint project on a wit-sharpening potion. Might just have been a wee hint to sharpen up." James grinned.

Severus laughed, and Peter, who looked like he had been about to join them, instead said, somewhat coldly; "I'm gonna go back to the common room, catch up on the latest gossip." He scurried out, giving James one last filthy look.

James sighed. "Well, at least he's not hiding under the beanbag."

Severus nodded. "Is he always like that?"

"Whenever something intimate or even remotely shocking happens, yeah. Makes me wonder how he made it into gryffindor."

And then suddenly it struck them just how odd this was; sitting there doing homework with their mortal enemies.

"Snivellus." James said, just as Severus spoke up. "Git."

And then they were laughing together, homework forgotten, like old friends.

000

THIS DAY IS STALKING ME! NYAAAAAAAAAAAH!

000

Sirius stormed into their bedroom, followed closely by an irritated Remus. He grabbed Sirius' elbow, spinning him around to face him.

"Look. I know you're annoyed and confused, but think of what it's like for me! Once I sleep with you, that's it. You're free to move on and do whatever you want, but what I am will still bind me to you. I won't be able to love anyone else. Ever. Think of how terrifying that is to me! I don't want to waste my life on someone who isn't willing to do one little thing for me. Besides, if we're going to be 'together forever' or anything like that, we'll have to come out anyway."

"I know! I know everything you're saying makes perfect sense, but I don't want to be forced into it like that! I need to feel that this is my own choice. Please understand that I just hate to feel pressured!"

"I understand! But you have to understand that this is important to me too! It proves that you do care about me enough to stand up and defend our relationship."

"I do care enough! Do you care enough, though, Remus? You're acting like the good guy, standing up to defend our relationship, but do you really have the guts?"

Remus was floored. "I. Well. I..."

"You don't know, do you? And that's just it, you're so busy accusing me, you've forgotten about what it'll do to you too."

Remus stayed silent, sitting on his bed and running his hand through his hair. "I... I don't know. I just..."

Sirius sighed. "Don't worry about it Remus. Just go to sleep. Maybe things'll be easier in the morning."

Remus nodded, and stood up on his bed, preparing to close the curtains. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Sleep well."

000

Two days left... WOOOOOOOOOOOO! We left that damn third day behind...

000

Remus and Sirius were 'cuddling' on Sirius' bed the following morning. Cuddling involving hands and tongues and... you can imagine the rest ;) James and Peter had already gone to eat, leaving them safe in peace and quiet. Or so they thought.

"James? Where are you, Ja... Oh my God." Lily Evans froze in the doorway, staring at the shirtless, gorgeous, devastatingly sexy, ect. ect. spectacle before her. Or that's my opinion anyway. Lily just thought it was shocking.

"Lily!" Remus shoved Sirius off (for the second time this story) and sat up, staring goggle-eyed at her. This time, though, Sirius wasn't shocked into silence. Which wasn't nessecarily a good thing...

"Remus! How could you! I'm deeply shocked!"

"What? You were on top of me, idiot. And that doesn't matter."

Lily was just staring at them, hands over her mouth. "What were..."

Sirius went to speak, but Remus shut him up with a glare. "We... There's no easy way to say this." He sighed. "Especially with the conference in two days..."

"You two are gay." Lily found her voice. Remus just nodded. "Oh." She said quietly. It seemed to work, so she said it again. "Oh. Well... that's... a shock."

"Believe me, even I only found out a few weeks ago." Remus smiled. "It was a shock to everyone."

"So, do other people know?"

"James, Peter, Severus."

"_Snape?_"

"Yeah, that Severus."

"But he's your worst enemy!"

"He was. Now, I would consider him a friend, as much as even James or Peter."

"Oh."

"Yeah, this month has been a pretty surprising month." Remus sighed, then coughed slightly. "Damn... I think I'll be sick by tonight."

Of course, it was just the full moon, but Lily didn't need to know that.

"Then why were you kissing him?" She asked, suspicious.

"The question should be, why was he kissing me? He might get Remus germs..." Remus smiled, looking teasingly at Sirius.

Lily sensed the look. "I'll leave you alone then. But where's James?"

"Breakfast." Sirius said idly, about an inch from kissing Remus.

Lily left rather quickly.

000

That night...

000

"AROOOOOO!" Cried werewolf!Remus, howling up the shrieking shack. For awhile he just smashed around, breaking things, then noticed a rat scampering in through a smashed door, followed by a stag, trotting in confidently, and a large black dog, who ran up and tackled him, licking enthusiastically.

'Hey.' Remus smiled, communicating through that secret language that all animals share. 'What took you so long?'

'Had to shake off Sn... Severus. He and Prongsie here seemed like old friends.' Sirius smirked doggily at the stag, who seemed affronted.

'He was just helping me with my potions homework. Which reminds me, I have to help him with charms and transfiguration tomorrow.'

'Now do you guys see why I told you he wasn't so bad after all?'

'Yes, almighty Moony one. Can we get going now, my tail's really itchy.' Peter complained, nibbling at his tail. 'It sucks being a rat.'

'I'll swap you anyday.' Remus said darkly, indcating his claws and teeth. Peter ran and hid under a dresser, and they all laughed.

'We've been doing this for almost two years now, Wormtail, are you really still scared of me?' Remus laughed, nudging playfully at the dresser with one claw, leaving a scratch mark, and frightening Peter further.

'Yes.' The rat replied timidly. 'Petrified.'

'Come on, we wouldn't want your tail to get itchy, Wormie.' James smirked. 'Lets get going. And Padfoot, for the last time, don't let me eat grass.'

'You do anyway.'

'Damn instincts. I understand why I saw McGonagall licking herself as a cat the other day. Although it was sure as heck funny.' He smiled at the memory.

'Yeah, be thankful you don't have that instinct.' Sirius sighed, sitting down to scratch behind his ear. 'Practically traumatised me the first time I caught myself...'

And so the marauders headed off into the forest.

000

One day left...

000

Remus woke up lying on his bed in the shrieking shack, shivering and naked. Yawning, he got up and fetched his clothes from the locked top drawer of the dresser, getting dressed and heading back to school in the gentle twilight.

Checking his body over briefly on his way in, Remus decided that a visit to the hospital wing wasn't nessecary, and instead just headed straight up to bed, curling up with a book and waiting for everyone else to wake up.

He didn't have to wait long. Sirius, who he was programming into his ways of the early morning, began to stir.

Remus smiled softly at him. "Good morning."

"Morning, Remus. Are you okay?" Sirius asked concernedly.

Remus nodded. "Fine. Didn't even have to go to the hospital wing."

"That's good, we got there in time." Sirius smiled, leaping out of bed. "Come on, I'm starving. Let's go get breakfast." He threw on some clothes, and they both went down to breakfast. As usual, they were the only ones up this early, with the exception of Severus. Today really did seem like just another day. Except it wasn't. It was the last day.

000

That evening

000

The marauders were all sitting at their regular seats in the common room, silent for once. well, silentish. Remus would occasionally raise his head to berate someone for breaking the rules, James was deep in a quiet conversation with Lily, and Peter was talking animatedly with a group of girls, all of whom were asking him what the latest was. Only Sirius and occasionally Remus were really silent. They sat side by side, staring straight into the fire, Remus' eyes appearing to glow even more than usual with the firelight. Their silence seemed to accentuate just how serious tomorrow really was, and even the gossips were avoiding that subject for some reason. Finally, Sirius stood up. "I'm going to bed." He announced.

Remus nodded, getting up. "Me too. And you, don't make me come back down to confiscate that frizbee." He added, glaring at a third year trying to look innocent, with a fanged frizbee behind his back.

When he and Sirius got to the dorm, he collapsed on Sirius' bed. "I can't believe how hard today has been... I just want to sleep. But I don't want it to be tomorrow either."

"Don't worry." Sirius smiled, curling up at the foot of the bed, and closing the curtains. "I'm sure that it'll be fine, whatever happens." Sirius seemed to have adopted the idea that whatever would happen, would happen, and he would leave the rest to Remus. He just hoped that Remus made the right choice.

A/N: I have to go visit my stupid grandmother tomorrow. As opposed to my lovely grandmother. And I have to stay there for several days. GRRR. Well, by the time I post this, it'll be weeks ago, but whatever, y'know? I think I want to write the sequel now. Or run away and hide at my mother's house, y'know, whichever. Oh, and I have a job(ish) now, tutoring an adorable little boy in computing every thursday. Freakin' yay!

Quick note: For all those who hadn't guessed, I write the A/Ns at the same time as the chapter, so anything I say is weeks old. Mwahaha.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: -sniffles- It's over... we've had some fun, but now it's time for me to go. WAAAAAAH! NOW WHAT WILL I DO WHEN I'M BORED AND ALONE AND PMSY? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

-wipes eyes- at least my readers have been sooooo nice and given me chocolate and blue sherbert when I was sad, and I'll just have to write something... this story has got me itching to write a Remus/Severus, even though I don't particularly support that ship. (Better than Sirius/Severus... EW.)

Review thankings to Periwinkle4444, ELemental-ANimal, Beth5572, Gummi Bear, Riku-Rocks, and dracolover18!

**Canine Affinity**

"Ready to go, Sirius?" Remus asked, straightening his hair. He was really unsure as to whether or not he wanted to stand up and say what he was, but in any case, he wanted them both to look nice."

"Ready as I'll ever be." Sirius sighed, smoothing his hair one last time.

Remus smiled and kissed him on the cheek, leaving behind the faint scent of chocolate and toothpaste. "You'll be fine. Don't worry."

000

In the entrance hall, students were milling around, waiting for the arrival of the minister. The room had been filled with plastic chairs for all the students, as well as the press, and everyone else who would be present. Sirius and Remus found seats in the middle of the fifth row, nice and close to the podium that Dumbledore had erected that night. Before long, James and Peter had taken seats on either sides of them. No going back and hiding in their room now... this was it. They announced themselves and stayed a couple, or they stayed sitting down, and things went back to the way they were.

Gradually the seats filled up, a couple of very pretty blonde girls sitting a few seats away from James and Sirius and distracting them. Who said that Sirius was all gay?

Finally, the minister appeared, banging open the doors, followed by the press who took photos left right and center, and interviewed everyone they could get their hands on. It settled down, though, once the minister had taken to his podium.

"We are gathered here today, to prove that homosexual marriages are uneeded by today's society. I ask you to look at the students amassed before you, each of them a proud heterosexual, and wanting it to stay this way. Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, and that is the way it should remain, a special thing that only they can share. For if this is a right given to anyone, then who is to say a man and his dog cannot get married? What about a man an a child, still in school? What if it were your child? No, marriage is an act so pure and holy that it can only be shared by a man and a woman, or else who knows where it will stop?"

It was an impressve speech. All around them, quick quotes quills were scratching like crazy, acentuating everry word. And then the minister spoke again.

"Now, I am here with the youth of today, and as you can see, none of them have any need of same-sex partnerships. I see men and women sitting hand in hand, here today to unite against this menace. And I ask them now - if there are any homosexuals among you students, feel free to stand up and prove every word of mine wrong." And at that, the minister eyed every student in the hall, daring them to stand up.

And one did.

A few rows ahead and to the right of our heroes, Severus Snape unexpectedly stood up. "I'm willing." He drawled, waiting for the inevitable outburst.

And an outburst there was - people laughed and jeered, and several people threw things at him but Severus stood there still as a stone, bearing it and muttering 'Be brave, have courage...' to himself under his breath.

To say that the marauders were shocked was an understatement. Not even Remus had known. And then, beaming, he yanked Sirius to his feet. Arms and fingers entwined, he glared at the minister. "Us too."

This time, there was a deadly hush. Snape was one thing, but the marauders? And then, just as the silence was waning, and the jeering was about to start, James and Peter stood up in defense of their friends, flanking them, arms crossed, like bodyguards.

"And if anyone has anything to say about it, they'll answer to us." James said, glaring at the crowd in general. Peter nodded, actually managing to look tough for once.

There was a deadly silence, then the two blonde girls stood up too. Remus noticed that they were a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. They stayed silent, though the Slytherin looked as though she was restraining the Hufflepuff from attacking the minister right then and there, with her bare fists. Remus smiled warmly, then turned the smile full blast to Severus, who smiled back. It was a thin, despairing smile though. And then, a girl in the back row stood up, then a couple of boys somewhere in the middle, and before long, almost the entire population of the school was on it's feet. Even some of the staff, although nobody commented on this.

"I... I see..." The minister sighed, collapsing into his seat. "Well I guess. Well... I..."

"Have changed your point of view?" Came a voice from the crowd. Remus recognised it to be Severus straight away. The minister nodded weakly, and an almighty cheer came up from the students of Hogwarts.

And it was as if they had been set free. All at once, people appeared to be looking for each other, praying that person of the same gender was inded standing. Remus could just barely see the blonde girls hugging enthusiastically and he knew then. They had won. And with that, he kissed Sirius squarely on the lips.

000

It was all over the newspaper the next day, a front page article with a huge photo and everything. The photo was one Remus knew he would keep forever - it showed the crowd cheering, in the middle of which you could clearly see Sirius and Remus kissing. Severus could be seen off to the side, celebrating with the others, and even being hugged by a girl and thanked for his courage. On the other side of the picture, the blonde girls (who were now eating side by side at the Hufflepuff table) could be seen hugging and dancing happily. Yes, that was one Remus would keep for a long time. As well as the article below it.

_'MINISTER FOR MAGIC TROUNCED AT HOGWARTS'_

_Yesterday morning, the Minister for Magic went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for a conference about the recent gay marriages movement. The minister gave a short, yet well-written speech about how it would only get worse (can be read in full on page 2) followed by asking any gay students to stand up and prove him wrong. 6th year student Severus Snape stood up immediatley to defend his sexuality, followed by 6th year couple Remus Lupin and Sirius Black and their (straight, yet supportive) friends James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. After them came 7th and 5th years respectively Katherine Stanley and Philippa O'Neil. Before long, the entire hall was filled with students defending something they had been denying for a long time. A few hours later, the move for gay marriages was approved by the council, with 75 out of 76 votes. The Minister was seen shortly afterwards muttering to himself, but politely declined comment._

_The first gay marriage signed up was that of Adam McKinley and his longtime partner Joseph Evans..._

James leaped up straight after reading that line, shrieking in horror. "Lily! That's..."

"Yes, my father and Colleen's. Don't act so surprised James, you knew that we call each other sisters."

"Yeah, but I thought that was a girl thing! Not a 'our dads are in love' thing!"

"Oh, I dunno. I wouldn't think you would find that so strange, since you're obviously so gay." She smiled knowingly.

James looked even more horrified. "Hey! You know you're the only one for me, Lily!"

Lily laughed. "Well thank you. All of you. You guys standing up means that my dad's the happiest he's ever been now. And I think there's someone else I need to thank." She got up and walked over to the Slytherin table, James staring after her in total awe.

"Severus?" Lily asked, smiling down at the pale man now surrounded by people admiring his courage.

"What is it, Evans?" Snape asked, only half as rudely as Lily had expected.

"Thank you for what you did. My dad's getting married now, thanks to you." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, turning his normally pallid face the same shade of pink as the lipstick mark she left on his cheek. She then smiled, and went back to breakfast.

James seemed deeply downhearted. "What, no kiss for me?"

Lily chuckled lightly, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "I mean it. Thank you guys so much." She sat back down, and everyone resumed eating, Remus reading some more of the newspaper.

_...who are scheduled to wed on October 21st. Numerous other marriages have been registered, proving that this choice is alrady a whirlwind sucess. The Daily Prophet sends it's best wishes to all those enjoying the freedom granted by this somewhat overwhelming act of tolerance, and would like to thank the students of Hogwarts for their tremendous show of courage and faith in themselves. You have given same-sex couples everywhere new hope for their relationships. _

The article went on, but Remus didn't need to read any more. He smiled contently, putting the paper carefully in his bag and turning to Sirius.

"I'm very proud of you, Sirius. You stood up for something that was right, and a lot of people are happier for it. And you get rewarded for it, too..." Remus grinned, dragging Sirius into a passionate kiss.

"Of course..." He added. "We have to wait until we're of age..." Remus gave his partner a cheeky grin, placing his hand between their lips. "And not before."

Sirius' cry of anguish could be heard throughout the school.

A/N: IT'S OVER! TEH OMGXORZ! The sequel is called Lupine Attraction, and will be posted tomooooorow:D so keep an eye out fo' that shizzle nizzle. And I just want to say that I wrote this, and this chapter STILL makes me bawl like a little baby. Damn hormones... BUT WEMUS! AND SEVEWUS! AND SIWIUS! WAAAAAAAAA

Remus: -sniff- It's over!

Sirius: But we get to come back!

Remus: Yay!

Sirius: And you get chocolate!

Remus: Where!

Sirius: -pours melted chocolate all over himself- Come get it!

Remus: -tackle-


End file.
